I put all my music selections in an Excel file. Now after many years of dancing, I listen to each CD with my list as I read The New York Times. Now I'm learning the names and the orquestras that I hear at milongas.

My overall favorite is Quejas de Bandeneon: Troilo 1958 (This is the version from The Tango Lesson.) I don't like any other version including any other Troilo version.

I put all my music selections in an Excel file. Now after many years of dancing, I listen to each CD with my list as I read The New York Times. Now I'm learning the names and the orquestras that I hear at milongas....

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That's commendable!

I danced recently with someone for the first time. After the first tango, I didn't recognize the orquesta, so I asked if he knew it. He said, "I don't know the orquestas or the titles, I just dance." This surprised me coming from an Argentine who dances regularly. Then the next tune began, and I recognized it as Francisco Canaro's version of Recuerdos by Pugliese. I shared that with my partner who is only interested in dancing.

I've paid attention to the music and learned to recognize the orquestas by their style. Why? Because the milongueros viejos in BsAs with whom I dance want to know if I know. It's important to them, so it's important to me.

It's difficult to name a favorite tango. The first one that comes to mind is Indio Manso recorded by Carlos Di Sarli Orquesta.

I have many favorite themes, on its own or by a specific orchestra. There is a number of records that make the hair on the back of my head rise, and I just absolutely want to dance. Among those:

Duelo Criollo
El Puntazo, Porque Razon by D'Arienzo
El Yacare by Augostino-Vargas
El Crimen by Calo or Tanturi
and many more

There is music that I just love, love, love, and it does not seem to change through the years. I cannot tell I have a favorite song or an orchestra, but when it starts playing, I often exclaim "this is my favorite orchestra!" It just feels good, it makes me happy to just hear that music, to be aware that such a beauty exists. Among those, many records by Pedro Lawrence, Miguel Calo, and Carlos di Sarli.

I attended a milonga in Washington, DC a few weeks ago. The promoter does something I've never seen at a milonga. The names of the compositions and the orquesta in the tanda are projected onto a big screen. That's a good way to recognize the music. There's an old video of D'Arienzo conducting his conducting in the background, but after a while, you can see it doesn't match the music that's playing.

I attended a milonga in Washington, DC a few weeks ago. The promoter does something I've never seen at a milonga. The names of the compositions and the orquesta in the tanda are projected onto a big screen. That's a good way to recognize the music. There's an old video of D'Arienzo conducting his conducting in the background, but after a while, you can see it doesn't match the music that's playing.

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This program is very popular here on the West Coast. A lot of DJs have it.
I recognize the music most of the time without it though.

I attended a milonga in Washington, DC a few weeks ago. The promoter does something I've never seen at a milonga. The names of the compositions and the orquesta in the tanda are projected onto a big screen. That's a good way to recognize the music.

Click to expand...

An old version of iTunes used to have a feature called Coverflow, and if connected to a projector would display not only the name of the song and artists, but the album artwork scrolling in a queue, so you could see what was coming up too. Its a shame it was dropped.

If you use "view menu, visual effects" in the current version there is a scrollbar on top. Clicking on the stack token will show the next titles in a queue. Clicking on the cover icon will show a lager picture of the current artwork. I´ve added all the shellac labels I could find, so every dancer should be able to read orquestra, singer, title and release date even from the dance floor. If you also have added genres to the title also the dance style (vals, salón, club, fantasía, canyengue..) can be shown.

I´ve started to transfer my favorite tanda into a powerpoint presentation to add some more photos of the musicians, the composer, fashion photos, newspaper headlines, contemporary events, silent video clips a.s.o.

I put all my music selections in an Excel file. Now after many years of dancing, I listen to each CD with my list as I read The New York Times. Now I'm learning the names and the orquestras that I hear at milongas.

My overall favorite is Quejas de Bandeneon: Troilo 1958 (This is the version from The Tango Lesson.) I don't like any other version including any other Troilo version.

I find that often times the reason a song stays with me and becomes a favorite is because I'll have an amazing dance experience to that song or watch a performance that just resonates me and the memory comes back every time I hear the song.